Middle Tennessee uses 3-point shooting to down Troy women 85-63

TROY, Alabama - The Troy women's basketball team fell into a big hole as Middle Tennessee couldn't miss from deep in the Trojans' 85-63 loss to the Sun Belt regular season champion Blue Raiders.

Joanna Harden once again led the Troy women's team against Middle Tennessee, but this time her contributions came in a losing effort as the Blue Raiders defeated the Trojans at Trojan Gym Thursday night. (Photo by Cass Davis, courtesy of Troy University.)

Troy (6-22, 3-16) was led by Joanna Harden and Dominique Ross who each scored 12 points. Britney McCloud was also in double figures with 10, but the story was Middle Tennessee's long range shooting.

The Blue Raiders (21-7, 16-3) made 17 3-pointers, including eight from Kortni Jones who led MT in scoring with 29 points. Icelyn Elie was also over 20 with 21 points for the Blue Raiders.

Middle Tennessee hit 11 3-pointers in the first half on their way to a 46-21 halftime lead and finished the game 17-of-42 (40.5 percent) from deep. Troy shot 33.3 percent (20-of-60) overall and 4-of-15 from deep while Middle Tennessee was at 42.9 percent (30-of-70) overall.

The Trojans did shut down one of the Sun Belt's best inside teams by allowing just 22 points in the paint, holding the Sun Belt's second-leading scorer Ebony Rowe (20.2 ppg) to 10 points.

Troy didn't give up on the game and posted a 15-0 run in the second half on its way to outscoring Middle Tennessee 42-39 in the final frame. Troy forced 10 Blue Raider turnovers in the second half while committing just four. Each side finished with 15 turnovers in the game.

"We've got to put this game behind us," Troy head coach Chanda Rigby said. "We need to focus on South Alabama. We did not play well down there earlier this year in a loss."

Troy returns to the floor on Saturday by hosting South Alabama in the final game of the regular season. The game will mark senior night for Aarika Howard, Sophie Kleeman and Sarah McAppion. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m. inside Trojan Arena.